GWI Scholars Program 2027 - Free Training, Paid Internship

The GWI Scholars Program is a tuition-free training programme from Girls Who Invest for first-year and sophomore undergraduates in the US who are exploring careers in investment management. Every admitted Scholar takes the same unified curriculum from December 2026 to late March 2027, covering Excel, accounting, financial statement analysis, financial modelling and career development. From April the cohort splits into the Summer Intensive Program, which pairs four weeks in residence at Wharton with a seven-week paid investing internship, or the Online Intensive Program, a self-directed track built with partners including the CFA Institute, Wall Street Prep and Wharton Online.

Two dates. The priority deadline is 15 September 2026 and the final deadline is 15 October 2026. Applying by the priority date gets you a decision by 15 October; applying by the final date means hearing back by early December 2026. Supplementary documents such as transcripts and reference feedback forms may be submitted after the deadline, so file the main application on time even if a transcript is still in transit. There is no application fee.

Yes. GWI describes the Scholars Program as an inclusive training programme for undergraduate first-years and sophomores of all gender identities, including male-identifying students, who have shown a commitment to its mission. The name reflects the organisation's founding purpose of getting more women into portfolio management rather than a current restriction on who may apply. Every other eligibility rule, on class year, graduation date and institution, applies the same way to everyone.

Neither. GWI takes students from all majors and states that no prior finance or investment management experience is necessary, with more than 100 distinct majors represented among its 4,000-plus alumni. No minimum GPA is published or applied. Review is holistic and committee-based, looking for intellectual curiosity, research and analytical skills, strong written and spoken communication, the ability to work in teams, and the habit of taking feedback and acting on it.

No, and this is the most common misunderstanding about the programme. Only sophomores can opt into the Internship Track, and being placed on it puts you in the candidate pool rather than in a job. Internship availability depends on partner firm capacity in a given year, and only a portion of Internship Track Scholars are matched. Those who are not matched continue into the Online Intensive Program and are free to keep recruiting for external roles. Over recent years GWI partner firms have hosted between 175 and 200 GWI interns each summer.

For the education, yes. GWI does not limit or exclude applications by citizenship status, and the Scholars Program is largely a remote educational experience with no work authorisation requirement attached. The Internship Track is the catch: most internship matches arranged through GWI require unrestricted authorisation to work in the US and will not be filled by students on Curricular Practical Training or by anyone who would need future sponsorship such as STEM OPT, H-1B, TN or E-3. International students at US institutions can therefore take the full curriculum but should be realistic about the internship route.

The Summer Intensive Program is the in-person track: four weeks of academic training in residence at the Wharton School from late May to late June 2027, taught by university faculty, followed immediately by a seven-week paid frontline investing internship at a partner firm running to mid-August. The Online Intensive Program is self-directed and asynchronous, drawing on educational partners that have historically included the CFA Institute, Wall Street Prep and Wharton Online. You cannot apply to either one directly. Everyone applies to the Scholars Program, and placement is decided in the spring on internship availability, preferences and in-programme performance. Most Scholars end up in OIP, and all first-year Scholars go there.

The unified curriculum runs from December 2026 to late March 2027 and asks for roughly 20 or more hours of asynchronous academic and professional training across those months, plus one or more live virtual sessions each month. Live sessions are usually scheduled for evenings Eastern Time to work around classes, and some are recorded for catch-up. After April the commitment depends on your track. Summer Intensive Program Scholars must commit to the full programme without interruption, which means the Wharton residency from late May and the internship straight afterwards, so a competing summer job or study abroad plan will not fit alongside it.